Jigger



May 28, 1935. H; wfME'n-TLER JIGGER Filed April 1l, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet1 May 28, 1935. H. w. METTLER 421,002,703

Y JIGGER Filed April 1l, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 28, 1935UNLTED STAT Es JIGGER l Y Y Hans Wlli'Mettler, Geneva, Switzerland-Application April 1l, 1932, Serial No.1`604,489

` In Switzerland April 15,1931 'f 1 Claim. '(Cl.. 8719) The presentinvention relates to a new and improved dyeing machine for textilefabrics and more especially to that type of dyeing machine which isknown asa' jigger.

With the hitherto known jiggers for the dyeing of webs of fabric thedisadvantage hasV existed thatwith direct positive4 winding up of thefabric, the tension to which the fabric had to besubjected was toogreat, and fragile fabrics were und'ulystrained and'very frequentlydamaged. The

speed of the fabric and with 'it the tension on the fabric wasfurthermore not constant; creas-v ing frequently took place in bothlongitudinal and transverse directions of the Web.l

The object of the present invention is to overcome these defects andthis is attained by causing the Webs of fabric at no point of itspassage through the vat being exposed to any appreciable tension.

Veyed by a drum running in the vat and driven by a motor and is taken upby a rolling-on reel the position and circumferential speed of whichisso chosenwith respect to the feed of the fabric that thecircumferential speeds of the unwinding and the winding up reels are thesame and separate guiding devices for the conveyor drum and the saidreels `are used so that the fabric is not subjected to any detrimentaldegree of tension or stretching.

' All rollers, drums and the like with which the material comes intocontact have a special drive without the'fabric being utilized in anyway for this purpose, or being stressed with the result that the finestand most fragile fabrics can be dyed without being injured.

Two embodiments are shown, to some extent diagrammatically, in theaccompanying drawings and by way of examples:

Fig. l shows a jigger with hydraulic drive, in side View, partly insection.

Fig. 2 is an end View with some parts in section.

Fig. 3 shows a hydraulic driving motor in section and is taken on theline A-A of Fig. 1.

Fig. l shows a second form of construction with friction wheel drive, inside elevation.

Fig. 5 is an axial section of the same machine.

Fig. 6 shows diagrammatically the Working process.

A drum I of comparatively large diameter is fitted on a shaft 2 (Figs.1-3) which is rotatably carried on ball bearings 3 in the machine frame.The drum I is driven through toothed wheel and chain drive 5, 5, l, 8 bya Water turbine 9 or9a. The wheels of the turbines 9, 9a driven by meansAccording to the invention, the fabric is con? of 4water jets areprovidedwith oppositely directed bladesV which permit an alteration ofdirec'- tion of rotation of drum I, the one or the'other being used fordriving. A reversible electric motor;l not shown, a'. compressed airmotor, or a Weight motor or the like could be provided, in any caseonlysuch means for driving are used which allow the direction ofrotation to be altered' and ensuring a steady elastical drive; Water issupplied by `a pipe 20 andinozzles directing jetsf on to the wheelsofsaidturbines 9, 9a. vValves are arranged in said pipe 2li-to directthe flow of-water to any of said turbines.

Alongside the drum I", and parallel thereto there are fitted in'ballbearings I2 both a rollingV up and a rolling-off reel lli, I I by meansof shafts I3. The bearings are slidably mounted' inslots of the framerunning radially with reference to the druml I. The-'reels I0, II 'are'`mounted in such a `manner that the reels Anevercome into contact withthe drum I. The reels IIi,` I I"als'o are of Vlarge diameter, andz areeasily rotatable on the ball bearings I2'i` A Y` On eachofthe shafts I3there are two water Wheels I4 one onr each -endl (or a fan or electro-`motor couldVV be` usedf for pneumatic orV electric drive respectively).`

The drum I is driven byone orthe other turbines 9 or 9a, and byvaryingthe quantity of'water flowing through', the torque andtthus'thespeed at which the fabric passes the machine can be very easilyregulated. The water under pressure used furthe drive is, Vaftergivingup` its power, caught at the outlet of the respective turbines in thepipes 2I, 2Ia. In these pipes 2I, 2 Ia, there are light load or overflowconnections as 22, which are controlled by regulating cocks 23. Theseregulating cocks 23 serve to regulate the flow of water to the waterWheels I4 constantly for the rolling-up reel only, and to thus exactlyadjust the rotation of the rolling-up reel that the fabric fed by theconveyor drum I is very loosely rolled up Without undergoing tension orstretching. Preferably, the water acts up-on the blades I4 only bygravity.

Slip couplings could also be used in the driving of the reels in orderto be able to transmit a definite turning moment capable of adjustment.

1 In order to ensure a uniform dyeing of they length of fabric on themachine even with the 50 most moderate size dyeing bath, and in order torapidly dye material not easily permeable, by squeezing in the dye,three very light rollers 25, 26, 21 made to float, are arranged easilyrotatable in the trough 24; the floating roller 21 is so arcording toexperience, the warp threads shrink material, since it is carried overthe roller 2, is

held from the drum I, thus giving the dye liquor better access to thefabric length.

In the dyeing of fabrics, as for example crepe and the like, these onbecoming wet vat once shrink in length and width. Even with a Smau pullon the fabric caused, for example, by the resistance of the ballbearings or the friction in the dye liquor, creases are produced. Invorder to prevent this creasing, a spreading device: 28, 29, 3D isfitted in front of each fabric reel and in such a manner that thisimmerses wholly or partially into the dye liquor. Each spreadingdevicerconsists of two pairs of very light cone rollers 28-30, with thegreatest diameter in the point of contact in the centre of the path ofthe fabric web, and of two pairs of cone rollers 29 which are fitted ona` bent and rocking spindle, the greatest diameter of the cones being atthe outside on the edge of the fabric length. Spreading devices of thistype are well known, any suitable device can be used.

The cone rollers can be adjusted as desired with respect to each otherin order to adjust the embracing arc to the desired spreading outeffect. The cones 29 here work as spreaders of the weft threads, and thecones 28, 29, 30, serve to smooth out the uneven warp thread lengths.Ac-

more on wetting at the edges of the material than in the centre of thefabric lengths.

It is of great importance for a successful result that the free fabricrunning on or running off the course indicated by line a and b betweenthe fabric reel and the spreading out device or the fabric reel and theconveyor drum be as short as possible. In order that this may beattained, known mechanical hydraulic or other means may be used in orderto move upward or downward the` reels I0, II in the direction of arrowsc. radial to the conveyor drum I, the reels Ill, II

' never, however, being adjusted so low that they 501.1

come into contact with the conveyor drum I duringthe working process 'ofthe machine. The distance of the reel from the conveyor drum I isregulated according to the quantity'of fabric on the reeling up orunwinding reel.

With electric drive, both the conveyor drum I and the running reels I9,II are driven by means of synchronous three-phase motors, the speed ofwhich may be regulated by known means such as speed reducers, regulatingresistances, and the direction of rotation of which may be altered bycurrent reverses.

With the machine with mechanical drive (Figs. 4 and 5), the drive of thereels I0, I I, takes place from the shaft 2 through the toothed wheelgear I5, I9, I'I, and friction discs I8, which are arranged on bothsides. The fabric reels IIJ, II are driven through friction discs I9which bear, according to the angle of inclination, with more or lesspressure against the friction discs I8 by their own weight. Therolling-olf reel tends to be always raised by the friction disc I8 andis freely rotatable in ball bearings I2, rotating with minimum unwindingresistance which permits a high speed of the fabric length andconsequently a large Output from the machine. The transmission ratiobetween the shaft 2 and the friction disc I9 is slightlyY greater thanthat of the circumferences of the conveyor rollers I and of the fabricreels I9, I I when the latter is empty.

yWhat I wish to claim and secure by U. S. Letters Patent, is:-

In a dyeing machine fortreating textile fabrics with liquids, comprisinga container adapted to receive the liquid to treat the fabric, apositively driven feed drum larranged to immerse in the liquid in saidcontainer, two rollers disposed at both sides of said feed drum,separate and resilient means to drive said feed drum and each of ,saidrollers, means to adjust the driving torque of said drum and of each ofsaid rollersA not to exceed a predetermined tension on the fabric, `twobuoyant cylinders within said container and disposed below and on bothsides of the said feed drum, a frame, guide ways in said frame for saidcylinders, the guide ways running in radial direction to said drum, anidle roller arranged between said cylinders at a distance from themantle of thefeed drum, means to reverse the direction of rotation ofeach of said rollers and of said drum, the said rollers being arrangedto be close to but out of the liquid when fully wound, and a spreadingdevice for the fabric arranged intermediate the drum and each of therollers.

HANS WILLI METTLER.

